Junior safety Carter Stoutmire and junior running back Dallen Hayden block a BYU pass in the game against Brigham Young University At Folsom field on September 28th, 2025. (Peter FitzGerald/CU Independent)
The Colorado Buffaloes (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) hosted the No. 25 Brigham Young University Cougars (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) Saturday night at Folsom Field, dropping the contest 24-21.
Senior quarterback Kaidon Salter, who came off his best performance as a Buff against Wyoming, started hot, completing his first four passes for 47 yards, and adding 37 yards on the ground with a touchdown during the first three Colorado drives.
Sophomore Dre’lon Miller saw some unique action, taking three direct snaps for 30 yards and a touchdown, helping put the Buffs up 14-0 during the first quarter.
BYU was able to claw their way back as the Buffs offense stalled out with credit to freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier throwing for 179 yards and two touchdown passes on a 70% completion rate.
Bachmeier and the Cougars offense remained creative, putting up 17 unanswered points for BYU.
The Colorado offense picked up in the third quarter, responding to the BYU nine play, 77-yard touchdown drive which gave them a three point lead.
Salter was able to find receiver Joseph Williams for a 26-yard gain before a 19 yard Salter keeper helped set up a touchdown pass to Miller, putting the Buffs back up 21-17.
Senior quarterback Kaidon Salter runs down the field in the game against Brigham Young University At Folsom field on September 28th, 2025. (Peter FitzGerald/CU Independent)
A BYU false start and a Tawfiq Byard tackle for loss put BYU in a tough position, down four in the fourth quarter. Bachmeier was able to get back 16 yards on a quarterback-keeper up the middle, as BYU went on to score later in the drive.
On the subsequent drive, Salter was able to run the sideline for a 45-yard gain, but a holding penalty brought the ball back, erasing the biggest play of the night and swinging the momentum away from the Buffs.
On their final drive of the game, the Buffs had the ball, down only three with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Buffs offense was moving, gathering 20 yards in three plays, before Salter threw an interception to seal the game, 24-21.
Overall, the Buffs struggled to find offensive consistency outside the first two drives.
“We got to get consistency from everyone. That’s all,” Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said after the game.
A bright spot for Colorado was Miller, who was all over the field with 52 rushing yards on eight carries, catching two passes for 27 yards and scoring twice,
Salter, who added 49 yards on the ground, complimented Miller’s game.
“He’s a Debo Samuel type person where you can put him in the backfield, put him in the wildcat, put him at receiver,” Salter said. “Him being able to step up in that role was very big on us with us having two running backs out.”
While Salter has recorded 684 yards and five touchdowns in the season thus far, he was critical of himself post-game.
“You know, we just got to be more disciplined,” Salter said about his interception. “I gotta take what they give me and take the easy throws.”
Sanders shouldered a lot of the blame as well.
“We got to do better as a staff, as a team, and I got to do better,” Sanders said. “We had tremendous opportunities to make the plays. We just didn’t.”
Colorado’s next game will be in Fort Worth, Texas against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs (3-2, 0-1 Big 12) on Saturday, Oct. 4. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. MT and will be streamed live on Fox.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jake Chau at jake.chau@colorado.edu.
